Rebuild the Party

Young GOPers rally to push technology, youth outreach

A group of under-40 Republican operatives and bloggers are joining forces to implore the party to improve its use of the Internet and technology and reach out to those young voters who overwhelmingly voted for Barack Obama on Tuesday.

"Rebuild the Party" will push the next Republican National Committee chair, chosen in January, to make bridging the digital divide between the two parties the top priority.

"2008 made one thing clear," they write on the coalition's home page, "[I]f allowed to go unchecked, the Democrats' structural advantages, including their use of the Internet, their more than 2-to-1 advantage with young voters, their discovery of a better grassroots model — will be as big a threat to the future of the GOP as the toxic political environment we have faced the last few years."

They'll be encouraging the candidates for RNC chair to sign an eventual technology plan, to be hatched by these activists and others who submit ideas.

"Rebuilding the Party, as the plan outlines, will involve a restructuring of the RNC, a new message and media strategy and a massive overhaul of the party's grassroots organization," emails Mindy Finn, a top Internet maven for Mitt Romney's campaign.

Members of "Rebuild the Party" include Finn, former Bush and RNC online guru Patrick Ruffini, former Republican Governors Association executive director Phil Musser, RedState founder Erick Erickson, TownHall's Matt Lewis and former Jeb Bush aide Justin Sayfie, host of the popular Florida political aggregator Sayfie Review.